The Monuments Men

Angelo Peter Lucia
( 1913-1999 )

Landscape architect and professor, Angelo Peter Lucia was born in Angoli, a small town in Catanzaro, Italy, on April 23, 1913. When he was eight years old, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Massachusetts.

Lucia was inducted in the U.S. Army in April 1942. Due to his skill in drafting and fluency in Italian, he received an assignment to the 2675th Civil Affairs Regiment of the Allied Control Commission (ACC). Following service in Algeria, French Morocco, and Tunisia, Lucia joined the MFAA in Naples, Italy in March 1944. He worked as a clerk at headquarters alongside Monuments Men Lt. Col. Ernest T. DeWald, Lt. Col. John Bryan Ward-Perkins, Capt. Deane Keller, and S/Sgt. Nick Defino.

Upon his return to the United States in November 1945, Lucia resumed his studies in architecture. He completed degrees from Syracuse University in New York and the University of Rome before working at architectural firms in New York and California. From 1949 to 1951, he served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. In 1957 Lucia became Assistant Professor of Architecture at Michigan State University. Lucia participated in many local and national architectural organizations, including the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Angelo Lucia died of Alzheimer’s disease in Tustin, California on November 6, 1999.